The “Toxic Alert” association and its president Valérie Murat have not said their last word. In February 2021, the decision of the Libourne court to sentence the association and its spokesperson to €125,000 in compensation for “collective denigration of the Bordeaux wine industry” was a real blow for the small structure. At issue was the publication of analyzes from an independent laboratory that it had requested and which showed the presence of pesticide residues in bottles of wine labeled high environmental value (HVE). This “green” label put forward by the Bordeaux wine interprofessional council (CIVB), does not prohibit the use of phytosanitary products. He is accused of greenwashing by his detractors.
A call to discuss the merits of the case
“This unprecedented judgment was accompanied by provisional execution which obliged “Alert auxtoxicés” and its spokesperson to jointly pay the sum even before a hearing before the Court of Appeal,” recalls Valérie Murat in a press release this Friday. For almost three years, the association, while denouncing “a gag trial” and an “omerta”, has collected donations from 2,852 individuals and 27 organizations to pay colossal compensation. She is now authorized to appeal and intends to use it to discuss the merits of the case.
The appeal procedure should make it possible to inform the public about this label which, according to the association, “allows the use of products suspected of being carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic and/or endocrine disruptors to produce wine. » It is with redoubled energy that the association is resuming the fight against pesticides in Bordeaux.